


There's No Place Like Home

by MissMonochrome



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Disability, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Family, Humanstuck, Major Illness, Mental Health Issues, One-Sided Attraction, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-23
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:59:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4629600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMonochrome/pseuds/MissMonochrome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Your name is Karkat Vantas. You’ve recently moved away from your childhood home as was dictated by your father. You have no idea why he wanted to move to the sleepy seaside town of Skaia, although it may have something to do with his lifelong best friend- who also happens to be father to the bane of your childhood: Sollux Captor. You feel terribly lonely without the company of your own lifelong accomplice, Kanaya Maryam, however in the coming year you hope to gain friends, find new ways to occupy your time and perhaps find someone more special to spend your time with...</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's No Place Like Home

HEY KANAYA, 

SO AS EXPECTED, MY LIFE IN THIS INSUFFERABLE SHITHOLE IS LIKE AN INCESSANT FUCKING NIGHTMARE. NO WAIT, SCRATCH THE SIMILE. IT *IS* AN INCESSANT FUCKING NIGHTMARE. IT’S LIKE DAY-IN, DAY-OUT- IT’S ALL THE SAME MIND NUMBINGLY BORING HEAP OF STEAMING HORSE EXCREMENT. I MEAN, IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THIS PLACE COULD GET EVEN MORE PAINFULLY TEDIOUS, BUT HEY GUESS WHAT? I START MY FIRST DAY AT THE SOUL-SAPPING LEARNING TRAP WE KNOW AS ‘SCHOOL’ NEXT WEEK. SO PRAISE THE LORD, IT’S A FUCKING MIRACLE.

AND I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST WROTE THAT WORD. IT’S LIKE A STAIN ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, THE ILLEGITIMATE LOVECHILD BETWEEN FAKEASS BULLSHIT AND MAGIC. BECAUSE FUCK MIRACLES.

BUT ANYWAY, WHERE WAS I? OH YEAH, THIS PLACE IS SHIT. I’VE ONLY BEEN HERE A FEW DAYS AND IT LOOKS LIKE MY ONLY FRIENDSHIP “PROSPECTS” (if you could even dare to call it that) ARE THAT PATHETIC BABBLING EXCUSE FOR A BLOOD RELATIVE OF MINE AND THAT SMUG INSUFFERABLE PRICK WHO LIVES NEXT DOOR. SUFFERING THE PRESENCE OF THAT ABSOLUTE TOOL WAS BAD ENOUGH WHEN IT WAS JUST ONCE A YEAR, BUT NOW THAT WE’VE MOVED TO THIS GOD FORSAKEN HELLHOLE, I NOW HAVE THE ABSOLUTE *PLEASURE* OF GETTING TO SEE HIM EVERY. FUCKING. DAY.

I CAN’T EVEN BEGIN TO FATHOM WHY DAD CHOSE TO MOVE US HERE. AND WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT WE HAVE TO LIVE RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THAT FRUSTRATING SHITSPONGE. ACTUALLY WAIT, SCRATCH THAT. I DON’T EVEN WANT TO KNOW THOSE ODDS BECAUSE I CAN GUARANTEE THAT THAT PRICK CAN ACTUALLY CALCULATE THEM.

ANYWAY, LIFE HERE IS SHIT. MY NEIGHBOURS ARE INFURIATING, MY DAD’S DECISION MAKING SKILLS ARE POORER THAN A HOMELESS JANITOR AND SCHOOL’S GONNA SUCK MORE THAN ALL OF THAT COMBINED.

I GUESS THINGS HAVE TO BE GOING BETTER FOR YOU BY DEFAULT, BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE, SEND ME A LETTER SOON ANYWAY. I MIGHT JUST DIE OF NEVERENDING BOREDOM HERE.

KARKAT

* * *

You seal the envelope and place the letter down on your desk. As you look up, you catch a glimpse of a framed image of your friend that you were writing to just. Within the photo, she is smiling. The boy next to her doesn’t seem as happy. In fact he seems positively grumpy and determined to not face the camera.

To their right stands a long haired girl with tattoos trailing up her arms and a piercing embedded in the middle of her bottom lip. She’s holding the boy to her right in a very tight grip around his shoulder, suggesting some reluctance on his part from being touched. As it turns out, the boy beside her in the red sweater is not at all pleased and is also refusing to face the camera like the other grumpy boy in the picture.

In hindsight, you don’t feel too proud of that picture. Because no matter how sickeningly sentimental the idea of a last photo together was to you at the time, in retrospect, you wish that you had smiled or at least performed some nice gesture instead of ruining the photo for your companion.

Back then, your discontent about the move was clear. Your affection for the girl that you’d known and treasured for many years however, was not. You find it regrettable that things had turned out this way and you wish, like with many other mistakes you’ve made in your life, that you could turn back the clock and make things right.

But no matter how bad the past version of you had fucked up, the present version still hates the idea of moving away from home. It’s bad enough that you’re now only separable from that smug prick by the thin walls of your two houses, but to top things off, you and your brother Kankri had been forced to move everything in, as your father had complained of weariness soon after arrival.

And as you heaved in the sofa with the aid of Kankri, you couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger at your father for everything that had taken place recently. Your father, usually a reasonable man, would never let the two of you haul furniture alone as he had always taught that a mark of a good leader was to be able to work as a team in order to reach a goal. You figure that he doesn’t usually make a habit of getting this tired so fast so you let it slide.

You would never have dreamed that he would announce your migration from home in order to live closer to the sea. Then again, the move was somewhat justified since you are now living next to your father’s childhood best friend and of course his son: your childhood nemesis, more commonly known as Sollux Captor.

You shudder. The memories of years of forced playtime with that introverted cybergeek all come flooding back to haunt you. You recall that you would look upon Sollux at his computer desk with curiosity, while the vapid Captor boy would stare emotionlessly at his computer screen.

_What are you playing?_ You would ask.

_I’m not playing anything._ Sollux would answer.

You would roll your eyes, but would not be discouraged.

_So what are you doing?_ You would press further.

_Just experimenting with code._ Sollux would reply.

In the early visits, you would be filled with interest and wonder as you watched Sollux pour jumbled letters into his computer. You would ask for Sollux to explain and, in later visits, you would ask to take a look. Sollux would then turn and, no matter what the request, he would stare blankly at you in the same condescending way.

Of course he wasn’t always at his computer. As children, Sollux would attempt to play more often. But even these were rare occasions and it got to the point where any time that Sollux decided to take a break from his hobbies, it made it seem like he was bestowing an esteemed privilege onto you. It was like Sollux took pity upon you, like he saw you as an inferior.

And so, a beautiful hatred blossomed. Now you don’t even attempt to spend time together, let alone talk. Yet now you would have to make the effort, since his Dad seemed highly keen for the two of you to be friends.

Then, as if on cue, you hear the yells of your father beckoning you downstairs. Another dinner with the Captors it seems. You sigh and add a stamp to the letter addressed to Kanaya.

Your name is Karkat Vantas. As was previously mentioned you’ve recently moved away from your childhood home as was dictated by your father. A number of stamps are scattered about on your desk. You use these to keep in contact with your oldest companion: Kanaya Maryam. Although your family is not rich in any sense, your father has promised to endeavour to provide funding for contact with her.

Your room is quite cramped, however you are thankful that you no longer have to share a room with your haughty older brother.

You fall into wondering about the life you will lead at school next week. You wonder if you’ll ever be able to make friends there. Decent friends. You figure that your socializing skills can’t be as bad as that reclusive hacker next door, so you think that you will fit in just fine.

You hear your father call again. You yell that you’ll be right down. You grab the letter on your desk and shove it into your pocket. You close your eyes and take a deep breath.

Tonight is going to be a long night.

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to X15lm204 for making to Homestuck pesterlog skin which I intend to use later in this fic, also another big thanks to cinnamonsnaps for actually inspiring me to write this and put it up here


End file.
